Ordinary Time

6th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday, Year I

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The first verse of today’s First Reading is a definition of faith that Pope Benedict XVI considered in his encyclical Spe Salvi on the virtue of hope (nn. 7-8):”Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” A realization is when something dawns on you, but it can also mean that something has been brought about. Pope Benedict sees this “realization” of faith, connected to hope, as some that occurred when the Lord had worked something in your soul, a first deposit on the eternal goods to come, which is why it also fosters hope.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews presents a simple thing to believe: that God exists and rewards those who seek him. If you don’t believe in God at all you’re certainly not going to seek him, and if you believe he’s indifferent regarding you, you’re not going to seek him either. Faith comes through realization: God reveals himself to us and invites us to believe in him, to believe even in the things he teaches and promises that have not yet fully come about, and in faith we believe him and that impacts our lives and decisions.

Many people today, if they believe at all, go through the motions of faith, but it has never really dawned on them that God exists and takes them into account. However strong or weak your faith is, ask Our Lord today to reveal himself to you. You will not be disappointed.

Readings: Hebrews 11:1–7; Psalm 145:2–5, 10–11; Mark 9:2–13. See also 2nd Week of Advent, Saturday, Transfiguration of the Lord, Cycle C, Transfiguration of the Lord, Cycle B, and 2nd Sunday of Lent, Cycle C.

6th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year I

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The story of the Tower of Babel teaches us in today’s First Reading that communication leads to communion, and where there is a lack of one, the other is soon to disappear. The people constructing the tower today shared the same language, but, ultimately, their plans reflected pride and egotism: they wanted to make a name for themselves. No society built on pride and egotism will last, because it never truly sets aside an unhealthy individualism as the expensive of others. The people at Babel had communication, but they didn’t truly have communion, and the world, plagued by the effects of Original Sin, had lost communion with its deepest source: God.

We can learn from this in today’s world, still wounded by sin, that communion is necessary for true progress, and communication is needed for that. It’s no coincidence that at Pentecost the Apostles receive the gift of tongues: it was a reversal of the disharmony brought at Babel. The Church seeks to unite humanity with its true source and foundation: God.

This teaching doesn’t just hold true on the macro-level of society and humanity; it holds true on the micro-level of family and friends. Let’s take stock of any Babel in our life today in order to restore communication and communion with the Holy Spirit’s help.

Readings: Genesis 11:1–9; Psalm 33:10–15; Mark 8:34–9:1. See also Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year II, 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday.

6th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year I

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In today’s First Reading the Lord make a second covenant with Noah and all living beings after the waters of the Flood subside, a covenant marked forever by the rainbow, symbolizing that the Lord has hung up his bow (and arrow, so to speak) and will no longer wage war on the living via flood. Even today the dove, the olive branch, and the rainbow are symbols for peace, all images taken from Genesis.

The Lord reminds us today that all plants and animals are given to us as sustenance, but also that we must use and treat them responsibly. Shedding blood simply for its own sake is an abuse of life, and the Lord says we’ll be accountable for it. Food is a gift to us from God. Like Noah, we should acknowledge that with thanksgiving. The Lord also puts the blood of mankind on a different level: mankind has been made in the image of God, therefore striking down man is an offense to God as well as man.

Let’s say grace at meals today with a renewed spirit of Thanksgiving for the gift of sustenance.

Readings: Genesis 9:1–13; Psalm 102:16–23, 29; Mark 8:27–33. See also 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday and 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.

6th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year I

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Today’s Gospel recalls a miracle, but with a bit of a yuck factor. Why does Our Lord have to put spittle in the eyes of the blind man in order to heal him? In that moment of history the spittle of a holy man was believed to have healing properties. It shouldn’t shock us that healing sometimes requires distasteful things: visiting a doctor’s office or a hospital when you’re ailing is rarely fun.

The path to spiritual healing also often involves distasteful things. We have to be nice to unpleasant people. We have to ask forgiveness. We have to cut down on the things we enjoy that are coming between us and our loved ones. We have to be more caring and concerned for everyone. We have to make more time for Our Lord. Like the blind man in today’s Gospel these things open our eyes, little by little, to the bigger picture and help us see that they’re means to an end. Things are not as distasteful if we see them as having a purpose: they can be a medicine for our soul.

The cure is not worse that the disease. Let’s embrace the cure Our Lord offers for whatever spiritually ails us.

Readings: Genesis 8:6–13, 20–22; Psalm 116:12–15, 18–19; Mark 8:22–26.

6th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday, Year I

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In today’s First Reading the Lord looks upon his creation and sees that it is almost completely polluted by sin. It renders his creation so ugly that he wonders if it would have been better to not have created it at all. Sin is like pollution and toxic waste; it seems containable at first, but with neglect it grows to such proportions that it becomes more of a question of containment than eradication. Yet it started small.

The Lord decides that it is easier to contain the last unstained elements of his creation in order to protect them and start anew. The Ark is to protect them from the evil that has overcome the land. However, he does not just seek containment; like a car wash at a gas station, it’s windows up and closed while the Lord washes away the muck of sin. The flood is considered a pre-configuration of Baptism; just as the flood washed away the sin and its pollution from the earth, Baptism washes away all the filth in us due to Original Sin and our own sins.

We were born into a polluted world. Our Lord has the remedy. Once we’ve cleansed ourselves through his grace, let’s keep it clean.

Readings: Genesis 6:5–8, 7:1–5, 10; Psalm 29:1a, 2, 3ac, 9c–10; Mark 8:14–21.